


This Is A Gift, It Comes With A Price

by OurDeal



Series: I Open My Eyes and I See That It's You [2]
Category: National Football League RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 14:45:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15560073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OurDeal/pseuds/OurDeal
Summary: 14 months after the biggest surprise of his life, Jimmy has adjusted to his new life as a single parent. His friends have his back, so does his team, but there is someone who is willing to destroy everything Jimmy worked too hard to build, just to save their own skin.*Jimmy's POV^^Work title comes from 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)' by Florence + The Machine###NO FOOTBALLS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS STORY! THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION.





	This Is A Gift, It Comes With A Price

            “I can’t believe she’s gotten so big, Jimmy! My gosh!” Danny exclaims through the video, as Jimmy laughs and Eleonora is just babbling away while sitting on his lap. He can’t believe that it’s gone so fast. The first time he was introducing her to Danny, he had no clue what his life would become. He was told one thing early on, but one night—a night of weakness, as he now sees it, changed everything. He went from being the care-free guy who really didn’t care what people thought about him, to a guy who watches everyone’s moves around him. Who won’t easily let other people into his life because of the fear of his daughter getting hurt? She was already hurt before she was even born, and he now knows that he doesn’t want to feel that pain for her.

            “Yeah, it’s kind of like I blinked and she turned one. When are you and Jules getting together to come down? I’m pretty sure a little missy would love to see you guys.” Julian walks right into the frame of the camera just then, and Jimmy can see that Julian also misses Eleonora. _I never thought that this would be my life. One moment, I’m riding high, living out my dream and then one tackle and a hospital visit later—and I’m a single parent to a small daughter. I can’t even believe that I was able to work my situation out._ There’s a small noise, and as he looks down, he notices that Eleonora is looking up at him with a frown. There’s a block in her hand and looking at the time in the corner of his computer, he realizes that he’s just about to miss her feeding time.

            “Oh gosh! Well someone is upset that I forgot to give her a bottle. So anyway, how has it been with Jules being in Boston and you being down in Miami? Are you guys doing ok?” Jimmy decides to settle Eleonora on her feet before getting on his own and walking into the kitchen. He can still see perfectly clear into the living room. He can hear the little pitter-patter of Eleonora’s feet following him into the kitchen. She is still trying to get the hang of walking, but for right now, her t-rex like stride is fine.

            “Well, we’ve been dealing with it one day at a time. Thankfully, we video chat every night just to catch up. It hasn’t been as hard this time around because we’ve kind of gotten used to it. It’s hard when we have to face each other though because I still find it weird looking at him from across the field and knowing that he is now my opponent instead of my teammate. But we try not to think about that too much when we’re together. I just miss him more now, and I guess that kind of sucks, especially when I had a hard day and I am left wishing that he were right next to me to just—I don’t know, talk me down from my cloud of rage that just builds up. How has it been with you and you know—Tom? Has he tried to talk to you after you told him about Eleonora or no?” Jimmy thinks back to that conversation he had with Tom on the week that he came home from the hospital. At that point, the news of him being in the hospital in the first place had hit every major sports news outlet. He remembers feeling like shit after telling Tom everything that happened, and Tom—he just kind of dismissed Jimmy, having no regard for his feelings or for the daughter that he had a hand in creating. In the long run, Jimmy ended up being better off without him. He gets help when he can—some of his teammates have stepped up to the plate to help him when he feels like he no longer can be a single parent and play football at the same time. He can still feel the salt of the tears he cried because of him, but in the end, he came out stronger.

            “So far, he hasn’t really talked to me since I told him about her. He kind of—I don’t know, distanced himself from me, which is fine. I mean, he’s not missed here. He chose to make me a single parent, and he chose to have nothing to do with my sweet little girl. Sometimes, it’s still hard doing all of this on my own without help, but I got lucky in the sense that my support system is so amazing. I just wish you guys were closer. It’s hard being away from everything I know and having to start over. It’s nice though—because since he is not in either of our lives, it’s been less stressful to have to hide a relationship from everyone. He kind of made me promise him not to tell anyone about our relationship, or the fact that he’s the other father. It’s really dumb though, how he went about everything.  It doesn’t really matter anymore, because I got to get this one to bed, as well as myself. How are you guys even up right now? Isn’t it like 3 in the morning over there?” Laughing together, Danny and Julian wave bye to Jimmy before ending the call. Pure silence greets him as he picks up Eleonora from the floor before taking her so that he can change her into her pajamas. As he lays her down on the changing table in her nursery, her eyelids begin to droop down. He can tell that even though she’s finished her bottle, she still wants to hang on to it for dear life, but sleep is winning. Laying her down in her crib, he turns on the night light and turns off the lamp that previously illuminated the room in a soft glow. Closing the door to the nursery, Jimmy quietly makes his way down the hall to his room. He still can’t believe that he hasn’t had her in the same room as him in almost 6 months. Lying himself down on his bed, he stares up at the blank ceiling, as his eyelids grow heavy.

            _“Hey, so did you work out the route we’re practicing? I mean, I know that you’re busy, we all are, but we need to know the route.” A teammate of his just blurts out from a blurry helmet. Knowing that it’s not normal to not be able to see the face of the person who is talking to him, he takes a step closer. The field begins to fade out of his vision, along with his team. The next thing he knows, he looks down and he’s in a Patriot’s uniform. It feels weird for him, knowing that this is the team that traded him, and essentially started the rest of his life._

_“Hey, what’s the play? What are we doing? Jimmy? You okay?” Someone is waving their hand in front of his face mask and for a moment, he thinks about swatting it away, before just turning his head to face the person who offended him. Danny is staring at him with a look of confusion as if to say ‘hey, what the hell are you doing?’. The field in his line of vision begins to fade, and he knows that he’s losing control of his surroundings. He is so used to this happening to him at this point, it’s not even a surprise for him._

_“Hey, I’ve missed you. I’ve been dying to see you for a while now. I’ve missed your face.” He knows that voice anywhere, and he doesn’t want to open his eyes to just look into the blue ocean that betrayed him. Taking deep breaths, he feels Tom’s hand caress his face, and for a moment, he leans into it. He feels Tom’s hand make his way towards his neck._

_“I’ve missed you so much…yet, you’ve found ways to stab me in the front again, James. What are we going to do about that now?” He feels a pressure against his throat, and in a stark and mortifying realization, the air is slowly being closed out of his throat. He feels his back hit something, and Tom’s right by his ear while keeping the pressure up on Jimmy’s throat._

_“I know what you’ve done. I know you’ve told your team, and some people in the media have talked about it. How dare you. You told me that no one would ever find out. Maybe, I should just take the kid away from you and put her up for adoption, considering that you’re not going to be around much longer to raise her. You and I both know that she was an accident from a night that means nothing. You’ve dragged my name through the trash and you thought that there wouldn’t be any consequences? You must not really know me, James. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now. Watching you struggle in fear instead of excitement…there’s something in the thrill of the chase that makes this all the more worth it for me. I want my face to be the last thing—_ ” An alarm jolts Jimmy out of his deep sleep, and thankfully he is not hearing any crying from the baby monitor on the nightstand. Looking down at the screen on his phone, the harsh light temporarily blinds him. The time of 5:30 glares back at him. He knows that he has to get himself and Eleonora ready for practice, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to wake her. Just then, he hears cooing from the baby monitor—and it’s too late to not get her ready. Getting the energy to get himself up, he turns on the lamp on the nightstand. Walking down the hall to the nursery, Eleonora is standing in her crib, a frown on her face and tears welling up in her eyes. Jimmy knows that look very well—it’s the look of her waking up after a nightmare. Leaning down to pick her up, her head ends up on his shoulder and her hands are holding on to the shirt that he wore to bed. By the grip of her hands, he can tell that she has been truly mortified by her nightmare, and really needs him to comfort her.

            “It’s okay, daddy’s here. We’re going to get ready for the day and you’re going to work with me. You’re going to see all of my friends.” Smiling down at her, he knows that even in his nightmares, he would never give her up. She has become his solid ground when he feels like he doesn’t have one.

            After preparing himself and her, Jimmy makes it early enough to the stadium that the locker room is practically empty. Eleonora is completely oblivious to the fact that she’s in the stadium at all and instead has relegated herself to sleep. Taking her outside to the field, he makes sure to place her not too far from him, but far enough that she’s under shade and she doesn’t run the risk of injury.

            “Hey man! Did you bring my favorite person?” the rookie, Mike, asks him as he sets himself up for the morning session. Jimmy just laughs before pointing over to where he put Eleonora’s stroller. He knows that his team has the best interest of his daughter at heart, and would do anything for her. As the practice goes on, more and more teammates begin to realize that he brought his daughter along for the day. She barely even makes a fuss through the whole practice. Jimmy’s thankful that his coach is understanding and lets him bring her in the first place.

            As the practice ends, he finishes up his last rep before heading back to the locker room. Luckily, Eleonora is doing what she does best—sleep. Quickly getting himself ready to leave, he waves to his teammates as he makes his way down the hall and to the back entrance of the stadium. Placing her in her car seat, she barely stirs, and he is calm in knowing that today is going to be one of his easier days with her. Pulling up to his driveway, the street is relatively quiet, and the weather outside is kind of cool for an August day. He doesn’t pay much attention to it though, he is too busy in getting his daughter out of her car seat and into his arms, that he barely even notices the package sticking out of his mailbox. Grabbing the package with his free hand, he unlocks the door to his house, settling his daughter in her crib before his eyes settle back down to the package he left on the counter. Looking at the front of it, it’s a non-descript envelope with an address from a lawyer’s office. _The fuck is this._ Opening it quickly, a stack of papers are neatly packed into that envelope. _You are hereby being summoned to the family court system of Massachusetts in regards of the custody of Eleonora Aster… by Tom Brady. Please respond as quickly as possible to this notice._ Feeling just pure rage rise in his system, he does the only logical thing he can do: Call Danny.

            “You won’t believe what that asshole just did. He’s suing me for custody of Eleonora—a child that he said that he did not want anything to do with. He’s trying to take her away from me. Danny, I don’t know what to do. I’m freaking out here, and I don’t want to lose the only thing that’s kept me grounded these past 14 months. Everything I do is for her, she is the only reason I even live anymore.” Feeling himself break down, Jimmy goes to hide in his room, away from the door to the nursery.

            “Ok, well that’s going to be a problem. I’ll talk to Julian and see what he can do about this. It’s not right. He can’t go and sue you for something that he explicitly had already given up custody over. He can’t have her and I am sure as hell Julian won’t let him either. Have you talked to Joe or Mike about this? What do your teammates think?” Looking through the packet, a note falls out from between some of the pages. Picking it up, Jimmy’s eyes begin to scan the scathing letter that Tom wrote to him.

            _James,_

_You son of a bitch. I knew you couldn’t keep that mouth of yours shut. You had to go and tell the world about her existence. Well, now I am suing you for custody of her. People are starting to think that I had something to do with you leaving and it was because I knew that you were having her or something like that. My reputation has been ruined because of you, and I want to put an end to that. I have lost the respect of the whole city of Boston because of the press brief you did last year. You’re a selfish bastard who doesn’t deserve happiness. You’ve taken my reputation from me, so I’m taking the child away from you._

_-See your ass in court,_

_Tom_

            Reading the letter out loud, Jimmy hears a gasp from the other end of the line, followed by the crashing of items on the floor. He can hear Danny and Julian having a discussion over what Jimmy just read.

            “WHAT THE HELL DID HE SEND YOU? IS HE FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW? I’M ABOUT TO GIVE HIM A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS OF MY OWN. Don’t worry Jimmy, I’m going to fix this right now.” Hearing the determination in Jules’ voice, the line goes dead, and there are more tears rolling down his face. He knows the next two people to call will have his back, but he doesn’t want them to say anything out of spite to the media.

            “Hey, is Mike with you, and are you guys in a quiet place?’ Jimmy rambles so fast over the line that Joe doesn’t even have time to get a proper greeting in.

            “And hello to you too, Jimmy. Yeah, Mike’s here, and yes, we are in the parking lot of the stadium. What’s up?” Hearing the cheery tone of Joe’s voice, Jimmy just wants to curl up in a ball and scream at the top of his lungs. He can’t understand what the vendetta is against him—he kept his word and never said to the media that Tom was the other father.

            “So…um, Tom’s taking me to court over custody of Eleonora. I don’t know what to do. I’ve already talked to Danny and Jules and they’re pissed, but…I’m scared that he’s going to do something to my child, because said it himself—he wanted nothing to do with me or her. I mean, I kept my promise and never said anything to the media about him.” Feeling a waterfall go down his face, he can’t stop the tears that keep coming. He knows that he has to fight, arguably, the most powerful man in the league, and he’s not even close to being ready for that.

            “Okay, we’re coming over right now. Don’t do anything stupid. I promise you it’s going to be okay. We will get to the bottom of this.” Joe reassures Jimmy as he hears the sound of car doors closing before the line goes dead. His feet begin to pace back and forth, on one hand, Jimmy knows that he has a good of a chance as any to win this fight. It’s the other option that he’s really worried about. He is the only security that Eleonora has spent the most time with, and to be honest, she is his heart and soul now. So, for Tom to threaten him like that, Jimmy knows that he has to get all the backup he can get. A soft knock on the door alerts him to the arrival of Joe and Mike. Opening the door quickly, he waves them in, his phone beginning to ring in his hand. Julian’s name flashes across the screen, and he knows it’s something serious now.

            “Hey, so before you say anything, Tom did not write that letter...but he knows who did. Unfortunately, it was Giselle. Tom—he found a notebook hidden in one of the drawers of the kitchen counters, and there was a torn page missing from it. He looked closely at the next page, and just from the pressure marks, he could read what she wrote. He just texted me to tell me that he called his lawyer, and they agreed to drop the suit entirely, considering that it was created under false pretenses. Take a deep breath, and Danny and I are making our way to the airport right now to fly down to be with you. Anyway, thanks Joe and Mike for staying with him. It’s been hard. I’ll see you later.” He can no longer hold back the sobs of anguish and stress. He feels Joe wrap an arm around him as he wails into his hands. Jimmy feels his body grow heavy with relief at knowing that all the things he thought could happen are never going to happen. Taking some deep breaths, he hears the whimpers of his daughter, and he is grateful for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope Y'all enjoyed! I am going to be taking a break for a bit from writing. Leave a comment or a kudos, if you would like. Just don't be rude.


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